Breast Cancer Now Forum

  @Love running I'm sure they will be understanding about your vaccine. They must be! Tell them my horror story if you must - that it'll make life easier for everyone involved if you time it better than I did. Also, yes, Devon will forever be one of my favourite places! Here's a photo of the view I enjoyed for 6 blissful days! I also wanted to say that I think holding off to tell your mother sounds completely understandable. There is no point in her worrying through this entire (very difficult) process, if it just ends up being more detrimental to the both of you. Coming to her with good news further down the line will, I'm sure, be very appreciated and save her a lot of pain. I think I may have held off telling my parents as well if the prognosis hadn't been so positive from the outset - it was definitely the most difficult conversation I've had with my cancer as I knew it was going to upset them so much.    @Poacher65 I'm so glad that it's doing what it's suppose to do. Hopefully that means that any weird feelings in your breast aren't too stressful now that you've had a positive update. I hope it continues to do all the right things! I agree - this heat is killing me so I'm glad for a few days of rain and cooler temperatures!   @Michelle21 That's really good to know! I'm thinking of chopping it now. It's just below my shoulders and in the past three days has gone from very thick so scary thin. So at least if it's shorter the hair loss will feel less dramatic that the chunks of longer strands falling out. I'm glad to hear it's in phases - I hope this phase ends really soon!! I'm glad that the session was at least partially helpful. Sometimes a good solid cry can be cathartic, especially around someone who's not going to spend the whole time trying to get you to stop crying but just listen and empathise. I'm sure a lot more support will be needed but please know that we're all here to help in any small way.    @TicTok I'm so sorry. I'm going through the same as well. 2nd round TC tomorrow and my hair is so thin now - it started super thick three days ago 😞 . I'm worried that it was too thick for the cold cap to even work properly last time and maybe now it's too late. I hope it goes well today for you. Will you let me know what they say about continuing to use the cold cap? I'll probably try the cold cap again tomorrow but will definitely need to take some shears to the ol' coconut very soon. I'm very nervous but I think I'm ready.    @Sammy73 I'm so glad that you're taking the hair loss well. It's still stressing me out but a supportive partner is huge through this. He keeps saying he's going to shave his hair in solidarity but I think that's a terrible idea - we don't both need to look sick! 😂   I hope everyone is feeling as happy as they can this week! ... View more

Hi everyone, I'm back! Had a bit of an adventure since my last message. I was doing really well after my first dose, Friday, with just some fatigue and sore mouth, then I had my 2nd Pfizer jab, Tuesday, and ran a temperature on Wednesday. I called the acute oncology, figuring it was just the covid jab side effects, but was told to go to A&E to check it out. They ran my bloods and discovered I was neutropenic so I ended up in hospital for three days. They still figured it was the covid SEs but they couldn't run the risk while I was so vulnerable. I definitely should have taken the advice I had read about taking an overnight bag with me! Luckily my partner was able to bring over some stuff to keep me entertained.  The silver lining is that my neutrophils had recovered completely by the Friday and I was released and told I didn't need to be overly cautious anymore. Which meant I could go down to Devon with a few friends who had planned a trip to a family beach house! We just got back yesterday and I feel better than ever.  It also seems a bit crazy that I was neutropenic and then completely recovered within the first week of the dose! I thought the 2nd week was the danger week. At any rate, whilst I'm a bit annoyed that they didn't consider the timing of the jab to be an issue (I spoke to my oncologist about this) I'm glad that I now know my body's response and I expect the next rounds to go much more smoothly. 2nd one is this Friday! I did the cold cap as well but my hair started falling out pretty dramatically yesterday so I'm feeling a bit stressed about it. I've got a wig though, so if needed I'll cut it off and see what happens. I think that's been my motto through this whole thing tbh - "I'll just see what happens!". It has been tough to mentally prepare for so many different unknowns along the way but I hope I'm a bit stronger for it.    @Michelle21 and @Baroness welcome! I'm not as active as some of the other women here but everyone is amazing. Michelle, I'm so sorry to hear about everything you're going through. That's too much! I hope the psychologist is helpful and you're able to book in some more sessions.  @Love running That's great you're getting away! My Devon trip was incredibly rejuvenating, even more than I was expecting, so I hope it's the same for you.  @Poacher65 Did you end up speaking with your breast care team about the pain in your breast? Is everything okay? I have had my mastectomy already but I would definitely feel stressed about that too. I hope you were able to get some peace of mind. Also, great analogy for how you feel - I definitely felt hungover too for the first few days!   ... View more

@Coastal Thank you! Chemo itself went fine - I could bear the cold cap for 4.5 hours and I wasn't feeling too bad. The side effects have been okay so far. Some mild constipation, some insane sugar cravings from the steroids (4 krispy kreme doughnuts in one go!?!?) and general exhaustion. But I'm feeling good today! Hoping to go out and enjoy some of this amazing weather we're having finally. Is anyone else dealing with mouth ulcers at the minute? I feel my mouth is on the brink of full on collapse and I'm trying to do all the necessary things to avoid it (brushing my teeth, constant salt water gargle, lots of water) but if anyone has any other tips I'd love to hear them!  It sounds like everyone is doing well right now! That's so encouraging! I haven't done much socialising but I'm hoping it's not too crazy of an idea to spend a few days with a few friends at a beach house next week. My oncologist didn't seem thrilled by the idea but didn't say 'No'. I'm quite nervous about infection but I have been really careful and will continue to be, so I may give it a go. Let me know if any of you has an opinion! @Love running I'll help you with those virgin mojitos!! 😂 @Coastal If you can take the time off work, I'd do it. I was pretty convinced I was going to work through chemo as well but my partner talked me out of it. This is such a difficult time, not only physically but mentally and emotionally, and when you have good days you should use them for something that makes you happy (unless work makes you that happy!). Just make sure you're listening to your body and taking as much time as you can!  xx ... View more

Hi everyone, I hope you're all getting through the week okay. Fingers crossed the rain has let up for a while which will make the encouraged daily walks a bit more pleasant! I was wondering if anyone had any advice about getting anti-nausea meds before Dose Day. I haven't been prescribed anything and I am guessing they'll give that to me when I'm getting treatment? My partner read somewhere that it can be helpful to get and take the anti-nausea meds before the treatment takes place. Does anyone have any experience either way? Trying to work out how much effort I want to put into getting something put in place over the next few days! @Coastal Thank you so much! I have no idea how this is all going to go so it's useful to hear others' experiences of the process. I'll be bringing loads of distractions with me and will be asking my partner for constant videos of our puppy which works every time! 😂 ... View more

Hi everyone! I'm a bit late to the May chemo "party" but my first dose is this Friday (28th), so I'll just make the cut. I've been reading through some of the posts and it sounds like this is going to be really useful over the next few months. So much support from everyone! I'm 34 and will be starting 4 rounds of TC (adjuvant), finishing up at the very end of July. I'm quite nervous about it all but trying to stay positive for as long as possible. but I'm going to give the cold cap a whirl to see if I can stand it but if not, I'm not too terrified of temporarily losing my hair (though definitely more than uneasy about it). I've got a wig appointment next week and have bought some head covers just in case.  I've heard some great advice about drinking lots of water and making sure I can get lots of rest but if there's anyone else familiar with TC, it would be great to hear more tips. It's great to have found this - I hope I'll be able to be helpful and supportive to others as well.  Warmest, Bex ... View more

Dear Hope213, I am going in for my mastectomy with immediate implant reconstruction on Tuesday and am feeling quite nervous but it sounds like we have had very similar journeys so your post is helping to calm me down a bit! How have you found the radiotherapy so far and did it affect your implant? I'm not sure I need radio yet but am a bit worried about the radio+implant combo as I have heard that it can turn it funny. It's great to hear that you were already well-recovered in December from your surgery - how are you doing 3 months further along?  Warmest wishes, Bex ... View more